Catching A Spider
by TranquilDestruction
Summary: When Clint Barton walked into the office of Director Fury, the last thing he expected was to be told that he had to catch the worlds most notorious spy...The Black Widow. Now Clint has the job of taking down the Black Widow...before she takes him down.
1. How Do You Catch a Spider?

**Authors note: So this is the companion piece to ****_The Necklace. _****This is Clint telling the story of how he met Natasha to his daughter, but she won't be mentioned that much. Most of the story will be told in the moment from a third person point of view. If you haven't read ****_The Necklace _****please do, this story will make a lot more sense if you do. I will be updating this once a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. So, without further adieu, enjoy the story.**

—

Lila looked at her dad impatiently, " So are you going to tell me the story or not?"

"Fine…fine." Clint sighed, "So, one day Fury called me into his office…"

—

Clint sighed as he walked into Fury's office.

"What do you want boss?", Clint asked taking a seat and propping his feet up on Fury's desk

"Well Barton, right now I want you to get you god damn feet off my desk!" Fury spat.

Clint raised his hands in surrender and kicked his feet off of the directors desk, this guy was his boss after all.

"Director, why am I here?" Clint asked.

Fury sighed and slid a photo across the desk.

"Another Russian we have to deal with, has recently been pinpointed."

Clint hesitantly picked it up. He expected it to be a muscled arms men like most of the Russians they had been dealing with lately. What he didn't expect was a blurry photo of a striking red head.

Even though the photo was blurry, Clint could tell she had delicate features, creamy white skin, and striking green eyes. She looked nothing like the main Russian spies they had to deal with.

Clint put the file down and cocked an eye brow at Fury

"What do we want with some random level one?" Clint asked.

Fury snorted and slid over a file. Clint peeked inside and saw a horrifying sight. Tens of bodies in each photo, all dead. But, for some reason, the deaths weren't bloody, most seemed to have been caused by electrocution, a shot to the head, or a simple snap of the neck.

Clint looked up at Fury, question marring his features.

Fury sighed and looked down at his own copy of the file.

"We call her the Black Widow." He said motioning towards the photo.

"Wait!" Clint yelled sitting up in his seat, "This is _the _Black Widow. The best spy in the world, the name without a face, the spy that kills whoever sees her? You got a picture of her?"

"Well we didn't need her entire resume but—'' Fury muttered

"Fury!" Clint interrupted.

Fury sighed and nodded

"So she," Clint said motioning to the model in the photo, "did that." He turned towards the bodies, surprised someone that delicate…could do…that.

"That's what I'm telling you Barton."

"Wow." Clint said running a hand through his hair, "What's her name?"

"We don't know."

"Where'd she train?"

"Don't know."

"Who does she work for?"

"Now that I do know." Fury joked, "Soviet Union, or more specifically the KGB."

"You're joking."

"Nope."

"How do you know who she works for?" Clint asked.

Fury smiled, "Even the best of us make mistakes."

Clint shook his head and stared up at Fury, "So what do you want from me?"

Fury looked at him. The same look Fury game him before he was sent to take out a rogue agent.

A look of understanding dawned over Clints features,"So you want me to take her out."

"I want you to try."

"I'm sorry?" Clint asked. Did Fury really think he was incapable of taking this agent out.

"You heard me Barton, now go train." Fury said motioning towards the door. But Clint didn't even move a muscle.

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to take out someone that is supposedly 'The Best Spy in he World'.

"You'll figure it out." Fury said before going back to his paperwork.

Clint thought about arguing, but he figured it would be no use, not with Fury, anyways. So he reluctantly walked out of the room, the file of the Black Widow still cool in his palm.

—-

Walking out of Fury's office Clint had a million thoughts racing through his head, but that didn't stop him from managing to call out at Fury's number two.

"Hill! Who else knows about this!" He yelled at the one and only Maria Hill.

About twenty or so agents in the vicinity turned to look at the exchange, but they had learned by now that eavesdropping on these two would only lead to more questions.

"Keep you voice down Clint." Maria chided weakly, but then she lowered her voice, "But to answer your question, only Fury, Coulson, Me, and now you I guess. Speaking of, why did Fury put you on the project?"

"He assigned me to take her out."

Maria's stoic face melted into one of laugher.

"You're joking, right?"

"Of course not. I don't joke about marks."

Maria's voice turned serious, " Clint, she's _the _Black Widow. How do you expect to even come close to beating her?"

Clint smirked, "Luck."

Maria snorted.

"Well there's a first time for everything. And if you're going up against the Black Widow..well…you'll need as much luck as you can get."

"Well excuse me Maria, but I have to go train." He shoved past Maria—he didn't need to hear about how gruesome his death would be—and moved towards the training room.

As Clint was walking away he barely caught Maria's solemn words, " You'll need it, if your going to survive."

Clint stepped into the SHIELD training room, consequentially most of the agents currently occupying it, stepped out. But Clint didn't start training right away. He looked down at the file in his hand.

"Let's see whats in here." He muttered to himself, peeking into the insides of the file.

The first few pages were just photos of the murders _Black Widow_ had committed. But after that was a list of her sprecial skills.

**Special skills: Expert tactician, hand-to-hand combat, expert marksman and mastery of various other weapon, master of espionage, skilled at multiple different forms of martial arts( believed to be trained in some form of gymnastics or dance…''** The list went on and on.

Clint put the file down, he couldn't read anymore. Black Widow seemed to not even be…well…human! She had every skill a spy possibly could. In other words, she was any country's dream assassin, but because that country was mother freaking Russia, she had to be taken out.

Clint shook his head trying to clear these thoughts from his head, but then his eyes caught the glint of a mechanical bow hanging up on the wall…

Technically training equipment was open to any agent, but everyone knew this was Clint's bow, and that if they touched it thy would have to answer to him.

Clint grabbed the bow, and in doing so every muscle in his body loosened. For a lot of new agents grabbing a weapon made their pulse quicken, their muscles tighten, and caused their breathing to become shallower, but not Clint. No, whenever Clint grabbed the bow, well, it was the opposite.

"SHIELD training. Level 10." Clint muttered out loud, while typing it into the computer.

The computers automated voice blared back at him, "training begins in 3…2…1."

A cardboard cut out of a spy in black—but not SHIELD uniform— popped up, Clint hit it easily. Then a civilian sprang up and he shot an arrow, but not at the civilian, but at the spy behind her.

This vigorous training continued for about thirty minutes, with Clint dodging civilians and hitting his marks. And of course, he didn't miss a single shot. He never did.

Clint hung the bow back on the shelf. It was a struggle to put the bow back up, but then again, it always was.

On his way out Clint passed the file of Black Widow again, and noticed a red marker next to it—most likely curtesy of Maria—he grabbed the red marker, and gashed something on the file, then he picked up the file, and strolled out of the training room.

Like every time he finished training, he pretended not to notice the agents that were obviously watching him shoot—he also pretended not to notice the times they bet on whether or not he would miss—. He made a beeline towards the back of the facility.

Clint, sweaty and exhausted, paced back through the SHIELD facility towards the directors office. When he got there, he didn't knock, he just barged inside. Fury was having a conversation with Coulson, but Clint took no heed of it.

He slammed the file on the desk, a big red 'X' marring the face of the Black Widow. Clint looked up at Fury and said the words that started it all…

"How do I catch a spider?"

Fury smiled in return

"I'm glad you asked…"


	2. You Have One Week

**AN: I know I'm updating early, but I just had to continue this! I will still be adding a new chapter on Wednesday though.**

Clint was intently listening to Fury, he couldn't miss a single detail of this, if he was going to catch the best spy in the world, he had to be prepared.

"So you're good with the plan?" Fury asked standing.

"Yes sir." Clint replied definitively

"Okay, just remember that all we've done is booked your flight, the rest is up to you."

"Of course sir."

"Great, we expect her back here in a week." Fury said.

Clint let out a small chuckle.

"Agent, what about this to you is funny?"

Clint did a double take, "Wait I really only have a week to catch her?"

Fury cocked an eyebrow, "Is that a problem, Barton?"

"No sir."

"Good, your flight is in the morning, so I suggest you get some rest."

As Clint put his hand on the door knob, ready to walk out, Fury's words stopped him in his tracks,

"Oh and Barton," Fury looked at Clint a glint in his eye, "Take her down."

Clint smiled.

On the outside he looked like a model agent, ready to start his mission, and take out his mark. But on the inside, he had no clue how he was going to do this.

For the second time that day Clint walked out of Fury's office distressed, but he knew that he had to get some rest. So, he headed back to his SHIELD bunk.

Hi room wasn't particularly large, but he was a high ranking agent, so it was better than what most people had.

There was a bed in one corner, with standard SHEILD sheets, a desk for his work, a simple closet, and some weights. But, it was only about the size of a child's bedroom, but he didn't spend much time in here anyways.

Clint brushed his teeth, put on some pajamas, and lay in bed. But even as he stared at his standard SHIELD ceiling, he knew sleeping was pointless. He could never sleep before a big mission. It only gave him more time to think of what could go wrong, so he did the one thing that he knew would get his mind off of tomorrow.

—-

Clint let his final arrow fly, it split through the first target, and into the second one. Two birds with one stone, or more accurately, two cardboard cutouts with one arrow.

Clint sighed and looked at the clock hanging on the side of the training facility.

_1:46_

He should probably get some rest. He had been shooting for two hours already, and for the most part it had worked. Clint hadn't thought about the Black Widow at all, until now.

"Couldn't sleep?" A voice asked from the door.

"What do you think, Coulson?" Clint sighed staring up at his handler.

Phil Coulson had been Clint's handler ever since he came to SHIELD, so a very long time. And Clint could always rely on Coulson for advice about a mission, or a mark. But the thing about Coulson that made him different from most SHIELD agents, was hat he was a good person. And according to Coulson, so was Clint.

"What's got you awake at this hour?" Coulson asked.

Clint just looked at him.

"So it's the Black Widow. From what I've heard about her, she could give May a run for her money."

"Ha! From what I've heard about her she could take Melinda May down."

"I doubt it, but from what I've heard…well maybe" Coulson laughed, twirling one of his Captain America cards in his fingers.

"But Clint seriously," Coulson looked at Clint, all humor gone, " You know how I feel about killing—"

"But Coulso—"

"Clint let me finish. You know how I feel about killing, but this Black Widow is a menace. She has killed hundreds, including some of our own agents." Coulson sighed, " What I'm trying to say is that this will probably be the hardest assignment you ever get, and if it comes down to her life of yours, well, you're to good of an agent to lose. Do you understand?"

Clint was shocked. Coulson—who was the most anti-killing a SHIELD agent could get—was telling him to take her down.

"Well, I mean—"

"Clint, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. And I will kill the Black Widow."

Coulson nodded sadly, and that's when Clint noticed the wrinkles in his forehead.

"Coulson, are you okay?" Clint asked.

"Me? Oh yeah I'm fine, I just don't want you to die."

"Oh wow, thanks for the support." Clint joked.

"That is what I"m here for." Coulson said starting to walk out of the room, but he turned back to Clint and said one thing before he left,

"They made you a couple things, down in tech. But get them tomorrow, you look like you need some sleep."

And oddly, Clint agreed.

Clint's alarm clock started blaring at 5:00 am. But he had been ready since 4:30. Sure, he ha only gotten about 4 hours of sleep, but he had gone much longer, on far less sleep. Plus, he could sleep on the plane.

He had to be out of the facility at 7:00, but he was told that tech had something for him. And tech made some cool crap.

The tech lab is a complete mess, or so he's heard. The only people allowed inside are high ranking SHIELD officials, engineers, scientists, or any of the other SHIELD nerds.

Finally after about 15 minutes of waiting a very disheveled young man came out with a quiver of arrows. Clint reached out to take them, but the scientist slapped his hand away.

"What do you think you're doing?" The scientist said aghast

"Grabbing the arrows you made for me." Clint said reaching for them again, but the scientist slapped his hand away…again.

"They aren't just any arrows! They have…unique capabilities." The scientist said a maniacal glint in his eye.

"Okay, so how do they work?" Clint asked impatiently, checking his watch.

The scientist took a deep breath,

"Let me say this in terms you'll understand, all of the arrows have different capabilities. You have normal, a few sonic arrows, some smoke bomb arrows, some tear gas, a few grappling arrows, net arrows, an EMP arrow or two, quite a few tranquilizer arrows, electric arrows, and of course, the explosive arrows."

Clint blinked back at him, "Um….okay…But what if I run out?"

The scientist just shook his head at him, "You really think these are the only arrows we made?" He said motioning towards the 15 or so arrows.

Clint smiled tightly.

The scientist muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Dumb Agents', before heading back into the lab.

A few minutes later he returned with as many arrows as Clint could possibly need.

"But wait," Clint mentioned, "How will I know which arrow is which."

The scientist smiled, "You know any braille?"

"No."

"Well you better be a quick learner."

Thankfully, Clint was.

The trip to the airport had gone pretty smoothly, it wasn't like it was a long drive. Clint thought security was going to be an issue, but apparently the tech team had devised some sort of cloaking device.

As Clint walked towards his gate, He studied the arrows and braille list. Apparently those scientists can't half ass anything. All of the arrow nock's were marked with the braille for the first three letters of that word. For example the sonic arrows were marked with the braille translation of _S, O, _and _N. _And if that wasn't enough, they were also color coded, because why not?

Clint sat down near his gate and started studying the braille list once more, he had to learn it, or the consequences could be…explosive. But he was interrupted by the blaring of the flight attendants voice.

"Flight 8897 we are starting to board, first class, you are welcome to get on."

Clint checked his boarding pass, even if SHIELD was sending him to his death, at least he got to ride first class.

The flight attendant checked his ticket, then smiled at him as he boarded the plane. He didn't smile back.

As he sat down in his—insanely comfortable—first class chair, he looked at his boarding pass once more,

"Huh," Clint muttered looking at the destination, "I've never been to Budapest before."


	3. Natasha Alianovna Romanova

**AN: _italics _mean Russian.**

Natalia Alianovna Romanova was your typical Russian spy. She was cold, calculating, and ruthless, but the only thing that made her different was that she was better than them. She had better aim, knew more martial arts, and was better at infiltration and extraction. And she knew it too.

Natalia was the best spy Russia had, and everyone knew it. That's why she was sent on all of their most high risk missions, why she was sent to retrieve information, and why she was on her way to Budapest.

Earlier that week she had been called into her superiors office.

_" Natalia, we have gotten word that there will be a weapons bid later this week, in Budapest._

_ " And what is my mission Madam Gloriana?"_

_ " We want those weapons…but we don't want to pay for them, " Madam Gloriana smiled, " After the bid, take the winner out, and bring the weapons to an extraction point."_

_ " Yes madam, when do I leave?"_

_ "Next week. Oh, and Natalia, we have received word that there is a possibility a SHIELD agent will appear on the scene. If they do…take them out. Understood?"_

_ "Of course madam."_

The plane ride was pleasant, but uneventful. Before getting on the plane, Natasha had to take an attendant out. He had seen her weapons…there was no other way., but that didn't matter now. She simply had to focus on the mission.

She took out her flip phone— how the KGB contacted her— and read the newest message.

"_The Airport hotel Stáció."_

That was the entire message. Great, looks like she just has to figure out how to get there.

Outside by the pickup lane there were quite a few limo drivers holding up a signs. Some of them looked very pristine in their classic suit and tie. But that wasn't what she was looking for, her prey was some one in total disarray. And then she saw him.

There was a Limo driver, who didn't even seem like a limo driver. He was totally unkept, and was wearing sweats. The only way anyone could tell he's a limo driver was because of the whiteboard he held in his hands.

" _Ms Scott."_

_ Oh, this is too easy._

She walked over to the man, head high and soldiers back.

" Well hi!," She took a quick glance at his name tag, " It is so great to see you John!"

John looked at her confusedly.

" Um…hello?"

" It's me." She gestured towards the sign, schooling her features into one of recognition

A look of understanding dawned in John's features,

" Ms Scott, I am so sorry—" John hurriedly apologized.

But _Ms Scott _just waved it off, " It is perfectly fine! But there is a change of plans, I will be needing to go to the Airport hotel Stáció."

" Of course, of course."

They headed out to his Limo— which was surprisingly nice— and headed to the hotel.

She made casual conversation with the John, but was thrilled when they finally got there ( John isn't the most interesting person in the world ).

John opened the door to her limo, and stuck out his hand.

The fool wanted money.

But Natalia just smiled, " I'll have my husband send it to you." She brushed right past him into the hotel.

She went up to the check-in desk. There was one woman there, strait brown hair, suit, glasses, she was your typical check-in worker. As Natalia walked over to her she was so tempted to roll her eyes, but of course she didn't.

She was about to speak in English, when she noticed a small KGB symbol plastered on the woman's jacket. The woman looked at her skeptically.

" _Natalia?" _

Natalia smiled,

"_How's your day been."_

The check in worker rolled her eyes and gave her a keycard.

"_ Room 325, 3rd floor, the elevators are on the right."_

Natalia took the key, and headed up to her room.

It was a classic hotel room, one queen-sized bed, a desk, a bathroom, and a chair. But there was also a black dress with a note by it,

"_ Your name is Sofia Petrovich. The gala starts at 8. St. Stephens Basilica. Weapons dealer is Ivanov. Weapons deal at 9. Extraction point tomorrow at 0200."_

Natalia looked over at the clock, it was already 7. She had 30 minutes to get ready…and then the real fun would begin.

After thirty minutes of makeup application, hair styling, and weapons managing, Natalia was finally ready to go.

Her dress was a midnight black long sleeved dress with thick gold bracelets ( / weapons ) at the cuffs. It also had a small slit to make motion easier.

When Natalia went downstairs the check in lady was all dolled up.

She was in a simple red dress that went down to her knees.

_" Look who got all dressed up." _Natalia commented.

Check-in lady just glared at her.

Natalia sighed, " _Shall we go." _

Check in lady just walked out the door.

"_Well okay then."_

The Basilica wasn't that far away, so even though the drive was wildly uncomfortable, at least it was short.

The Basilica was beautiful on its own. With beautiful architecture, and delicate paintings, the church looked like something out of a fairy tale. Even if the hulking men in suits took away some of that effect.

In front of the Basilica was a movie premiere esc. Red carpet. People were walking down it as if they were the richest people in the world, which some of them probably were.

Getting inside of the building was easy, the KGB does take care of everything…especially when they want Natalia to steal weapons for them.

Once they got inside, the check-in lady disappeared, which was probably better for Natalia. She did have a job to do.

Inside of the church, the benches had been removed, an open bar had been set up, but most importantly there was a large assortment of weapons, ready to be auctioned off.

She smiled and strode over to the bar, it was a party after all.

" Red wine." She told the bartender in perfect English. He was most likely going to ask her to be more specific, but a glare from her got him moving.

" Well someone seems to be in a chipper mood." A man she didn't recognize commented as he sat down next to her. He was wearing an American suit, with tips of purple, and had gelled dirty-blond hair. But she had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Men were the worst.

" How could you tell?" She asked with a light laugh.

The man shrugged, " Just a hunch, you seem like such a party goer."

Natalia allowed herself to let out a small laugh.

" Really?"

" You just have one of those looks about you." He chuckled.

She smiled.

Okay, this wasn't the worst person she had ever met. And then she saw the bulge in his pocket. It wasn't a knife, but it looked more like some sort of…bow. What if he was the agent the KGB was talking about? She couldn't be paranoid, but she did have to be conscientious.

" Here you go mam." The bartender said, handing her red wine.

She nodded, and took the drink, wondering how she could slip a tracker onto this guy.

The bartender looked at the man, asking if he wanted a drink, but the man waved him off.

" Why not?" Natalia asked playfully punching him in the soldier, the small red tracker sticking itself to his jacket.

" Not in the mood." The man replied looking at Natalia.

She shrugged it off, she had placed the tracker, after all.

Natalia took a sip from her wine and looked at the man, she had to find out more information.

" Where do you come from? I can't say I've seen you before, although I wish I did."

" That's because you haven't. My employers just thought this event was too important to miss."

" Of course."

" Well, I hope I'll see you when the auction begins."

And even though she wouldn't admit, Natalia wouldn't be to upset if that happened. So she simply said,

" We'll see."

The man smiled, and walked away.

But Natalia was so preoccupied with the mission at hand, that she was totally unaware off the purple, bullseye shaped tracker, stuck to the back of her dress.


	4. The Winning Bidder

Natalia and Clint were suspicious of each other, but Natalia had a weapons deal to worry about, and Clint well, Clint was just suspicious of Natalia.

She looked exactly like the girl from the photo. Red hair, green eyes, he thou— no he _knew_ she was the Black Widow. But Clint couldn't do anything without thinking…he would just let this event play out.

" Welcome ladies and gentlemen to this wonderful gala!" A short, blading man announced from the middle of the room.

The audience—which consisted of criminals…well except for Clint— gave a polite round of applause, but they all clearly just wanted the weapons auction to begin.

The balding man obviously sensed this, " Now, I wouldn't want to make you fine people wait any longer, so let's get the auction started with S.H.I.E.L.D issued laser guns!"

He opened up a cardboard bow to reveal S.H.I.E.L.D newest edition of laser guns. They hadn't even hit the field yet, but somehow this guy had them.

Clint—while thoroughly repulsed—wasn't shocked. Even though S.H.I.E.L.D was a top secret(ish) organization, tech got stolen from them quite a bit. I seemed no matter how far a head they were the enemy's were always one step further.

Natalia on the other hand, looked at the weapons with interest. They were one of the two items she was expected to…apprehend. And they were quite a sight.

" These guns are quite the wonder. But I understand telling you may not be enough. Who wants to see a demonstration!"

The crowd of baddies cheered almost maniacally.

The small man lined up with his target— the cardboard box the guns came in— he pointed the gun, and shot it.

The laser shot out of the gun and destroyed the box. Now, it was simply a pile of ashes.

Clint looked at the gun. These people couldn't have it. The damage it caused was…insane, and these guns would most likely be used against S.H.I.E.L.D agents. And from what Clint could see…the agents would have to learn how to duck.

Then an idea struck him. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he also managed to bring in some weapons with the Black Widow.

The small man smiled at the crowd.

" Let's start the bidding at 500,000 American dollars, for 10 of these guns."

Quite a few baddies raised their hands, so the bidding continued climbing.

500,000 then 1,000,000, and all the way up to five-million dollars! For only 10 of these guns people were willing to give 5,000,000 dollars.

The winning bidder was a tall, big, imposing man. He was bald, in a crisp black tuxedo, and had a very scary look on his face. He went up to take the guns, and without saying anything gave the small man a duffle bag, and took the guns.

The auction continued and everything from grenades to body armor was auctioned off.

The bald man, as well as winning the laser guns, won the hand grenades. The same hand grenades which just so happened to be the ones Natalia was informed to collect.

Well, at least she only had to take out one person.

It was approximately 10 o'clock, and the auction was finished. Natalia would've stayed, but the bald man was leaving…with the weapons.

She followed him, and Clint followed her.

Natalia followed the man down a couple of streets before he turned into a dark alley. He was checking his watch, probably waiting for someone to hand the weapons off to.

The cardboard bow of weapons seemed to have disappeared, now he had a large blue suit case. A suitcase that most likely held the weapons.

Natalia saw this as her opening and approached the man.

" Why hello there! Say, why don't we just make this simpler. If you give me the weapons I won't hurt you." The man was big, but Natalia had beaten men bigger than him before. _This was going to be too easy._

The man looked at her humorously.

" You defeat me?" The man barked out a laugh, " That's the funniest thing I've heard all day." He pulled out a shot from his jacket, and injected it into his arm.

In front of Natalia's eyes the man's veins seemed to thicken with an orange like substance. He cried out in agony, clutching his head. His muscles bulged, and some of his hair fell out. It was disgusting.

When the screaming finally stopped he turned towards Natalia some of his skin had been shredded off and a maniacal smile was on his face.

The man didn't even look human anymore…he was a monster. Natalia looked at him shocked. _Maybe this wouldn't be so easy._

On top of the shot, he pulled out one of the laser guns and pointed it at Natalia, " Do yourself a favor, little girl, and just go home."

Natalia smiled and twisted the gold bracelets on her wrist.

" I'm good."

The man fired a shot at her, but Natalia easily ducked. She responded with an electric shot from her wristband.

The man dodged…but barely.

Natalia charged the man and kicked the gun out of his hand.

She punched him, but the man didn't even flinch, in fact the punch hurt her hand, instead of falling the man simply grinned, and threw a punch at Natalia.

It sent her to the ground, but she easily got back up.

She tried an array of martial arts on the man, getting in quite a few heavy blows, but they didn't do anything. He just wouldn't go down. He also seemed to be tiring himself out by throwing punch after punch at Natalia. But she dodged almost every single one. Even if he was a monster, he couldn't kill what he couldn't hit.

Natalia knew that she wouldn't win this way, by throwing punches and hoping he goes down, but this was just to get him tired, she had a plan.

After about 5 minutes, when Natalia knew the man had exhausted most of his energy, she pointed her bracelets at him and sent a shock of electricity out of her bracelets that would kill anyone on earth.

The man shook with electricity, then convulsed on the ground, before going still. Natalia checked his pulse, and to her amazement he wasn't dead. Natalia looked down at him, clearly shocked. Even so, she quickly collected the guns…and the empty serum bottle.

Clint stared at her from behind a wall, that was one of the most incredible displays of martial arts he had ever seen, this woman was the most incredible spy he'd ever seen. But what the hell was that thing? Then an had injected himself with something and the gone totally cuckoo. He was so amazed and shocked that he almost didn't notice a man on the top of a building pointing a gun at her head. Almost.

The man must've been the contact who the guns were going to be dropped off to. He had a laser aimed at the Black Widow. But she didn't seem to notice.

Clint needed the Black Widow dead, but he couldn't afford to let these weapons get into the wrong hands. He could see the bald man waking up from the shock of electricity. If the Black Widow died, these people would get the weapons.

So, in a moment of complete insanity Clint charged at the deadliest spy in the world.

Clint barreled into her and knocked her out of the way. The bullet was so close that Clint heard it whoosh past his ear.

The Black Widow looked up at him, an indiscernible expression on her face.

Clint looked down at her.

" Well let's go then!"

Clint pulled out his collapsable bow and shot a normal arrow up at the man. It destroyed the gun, but something told Clint that wasn't his only one, so he sprinted away.

The Black Widow grabbed the blue suitcase and followed Clint out of the alley.

The ran for about two blocks until they were completely sure the guy wasn't following them.

Natalia turned towards the man that saved her, about to speak. But she couldn't, because the man had an arrow pressed against her throat.


	5. A Hero Mindset

" Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Natalia gasped for air, but managed to choke out two words,

" I can't."

Clint barely lowered the arrow, now the shining head wasn't pressed against her throat, merely an inch away from it.

" But I can give you a reason to keep me alive."

Clint cocked an eyebrow, " What would that be?"

" You need help." She said simply

" And what do I need your help with?" He questioned mockingly, holding the arrow closer to her throat.

" If you go up against them alone, you'll lose."

" I don't have to be up against anything! My mission is to kill you!" Clint said angrily. But he moved the arrow farther away from the spy's throat.

Natasha simply smiled, " But then why did you save me, why would you do that, when your mission is to kill me?"

Clint looked at her, " I couldn't let them get those weapons."

The Black widow laughed. It was a bitter laugh that sent chills down your spine.

" We both know that's a lie. Don you want to hear the real reason?" She asked mockingly. Making the arrow an inch away from her throat seem almost non existent. Even though she was the one that could be killed in a second, it was almost as if she was in charge of this conversation.

" Why did I save you?" Clint asked sarcastically

" Because even though you're a spy you have the mindset of a hero. Saving the person in need is just what you do. And now that you know that serum is out there, you can't resist trying to stop 'bad' people from using it."

Clint opened his mouth to protest, but Natalia rolled her eyes.

Clint kept the arrow raised, and visibly tensed.

" That doesn't mean I won't kill you, you deserve to die."

Natalia, while she would never show it, was hurt by that. It was something she's always known, but hearing it out loud, by a 'hero' nonetheless, well that hurt a bit.

" I know." She admitted

" Still, I should just kill you now. It's not like I can just let you give those weapons back to Russia."

" And it's not like I can let you give them to S.H.I.E.L.D."

He laughed

" It's not like you're in a position to argue."

She smiled, and nocked the arrow away, bringing her arm up, so that her weapon was trained on him.

But seeing the weapon made Clint knock an arrow. He frowned, she was a better spy than him, not that he would tell her that.

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them as the studied the other. Both noticing that they wouldn't be able to get out of this fight unscathed.

" I'll tell you what." Clint started, the makings of an idea forming in his head

" What?"

" Help me take those guys down." He suggested.

" What?" Natalia asked. She was baffled by that suggestion, " Did you see what happened to that man after he injected himself with the serum? He became insanely strong! It took me at my best to defeat him! And if he had that serum, you know the rest of his little group does! So no, I am not going to help you."

Clint simply stared at her.

" Then I shoot this arrow." Clint said simply.

Natalia laughed, " If you shoot me, I shoot you, we'd both die.

Clint wasn't smiling, " I know. My mission was to kill the Black Widow, my mission would be completed. But I'm assuming your mission wasn't just to kill me.", he mockingly pointed to the cart of weapons, " I think it had something to do with those. So let me make you an offer."

" What kind of an offer?"

" An offer where you live and get the weapons."

Natalia cocked an eyebrow,

" I'm listening."

" If you help me steal that serum, and stop those men, then I let you go back to Russia with the weapons."

" What's to stop you from killing me after we get the serum?"

" You're just going to have to trust me."

Natalia looked at him skeptically, then she lowered her arm.

In return, Clint finally lowered his bow.

" So where do we go now?" Clint asked, still not totally comfortable with the red head in front of him.

" There's a coffee place a few blocks away, we can camp out there until we know it's safe.", she looked him up and down, " You do have other clothes to change into, right?"

Clint rolled his eyes, of course he had clothes to change into. He's not an idiot. He pulled out a T-shirt and pants.

" Where did you even—" The spy started, " You know what, I'm not even going to ask."

She pulled out a tank top and shorts.

They awkwardly stared at each other.

" Turn around." Natalia commanded. And even though he very much so wanted to, Clint didn't argue. Instead, he simply turned and changed.

They jogged the few blocks to the coffee shop in complete silence.

They walked in, the clinking sound of the bell disrupting the semi-comfortable silence they had gotten used to.

They took a seat at the table nearest the corner.

" Who were those guys?" Clint asked.

Natalia scoffed,

" You expect me to know? All I know is that I was expected to get the weapons from them. Besides we have no way of knowing where we are."

Clint smirked.

" Of course we do." He cockily smiled, " My arrow put a tracker on the guy, even though the arrow hit the gun, in the explosion the tracker managed to jump onto the assassin."

At the questioning look from the woman in front of him Clint shrugged.

" I don't run the tech department." He replied jokingly. The woman in front of him was still looking at him skeptically.

" You don't trust me, do you?"

" Wow! You have the observation skills of a third grader." She commented sarcastically.

Clint smiled tightly.

" Well you're not exactly Ms. Open book." Clint smiled, an idea creeping into his head. He did have to get this girl to trust him, at least a little bit.

" So what's your name?" He asked.

" What?"

" You heard me, what was the name your parents bestowed upon you after birth?"

" Why are you asking me this?" She inquired annoyed by the spy in front of her.

" Well I need something to call you. I don't want to refer to you as the 'Black widow'. It's far to tacky for my taste."

" Tacky? You think my name is tacky? Okay, what's your codename."

" Hawkeye." He responded.

She burst out laughing.

" What is so funny about my codename?" He asked her, though it was hard to ignore the small smile creeping onto his face.

" It's just that you're making fun of my name, whenever yours is literally the name of a bird, followed by eye."

" Hey, I never miss."

" Yeah okay, sure Robin Hood. But then why couldn't you have gone by 'Trick-shot' or something.

He shrugged.

" I liked the name. Speaking of names, what's yours?"

" Sofia Petrovich." She responded.

The man in front of her simply laughed.

"Okay you may be an exceptional spy, Widow, but I'm not an idoit…"

" Could've fooled me." Natalia muttered, but Clint didn't seem to tell her

"…and I know that's bullshit."

He smiled, and despite herself, Natalia smiled back.

" I'm not an idiot either. I won't give you my full name, but my first name is Natalia. You?"

"Natalia." The man commented, smiling, " That's beautiful, but I'm gonna call you Nat."

" I'm sorry?" She questioned, not denying the inkling of humor that had managed to creep into her voice, " Russian spies don't really have nicknames, and when we do, they are something along the lines of 'Spy 1' or 'Knife girl'."

Despite himself, Clint laughed.

" Besides, you never answered your own question. What's your name, arrow guy?" She asked.

" 'Arrow guy'? Really? That's the best you could come up with? I've gotta say I'm offended. That's far tackier than Hawkeye."

" It's really not." Nat joked, " So what is your name?"

" Clint. You can call me Clint."

Clint stuck out his hand, and Natalia took it. As they shook hands they both wore their facades of friendliness, and that friendliness was real, they genuinely liked the other.

the only issue was that they were both committed to following through with their mission.

So even though they had made a truce, and Clint had promised he wouldn't kill Natalia, and Natalia promised she wouldn't kill Clint, a spy's word didn't necessarily mean that much. Especially when two spies were as committed to their jobs as these two were. And sadly, when these two spies made this truce…both of them were lying.

In fact, while shaking hands they were actually thinking the same thing about the person in front of them,

"_How am I going to kill them?"_


	6. Plans and Super Serum

_ " _So I'll see you in about 16 hours then?" Clint said, standing up out of his chair. They had gone over the plan, and both of them felt fairly confident about it.

" Yeah, I guess I will." Natalia said, a rare smile dancing on her features.

" Great." Clint said, his smile was similar to hers, except he wasn't making an effort to try and hide his.

Clint walked over to the door of the cafe, and turned back to Natalia, " Don't be late."

She chuckled, " I won't be."

Clint walked out the door into the black eeriness of the night. Of course it wasn't completely dark, there were street lights, but there was just something nice about the night. As he hailed a cab to take back to his hotel room, he couldn't help but wonder something.

How was he going to kill Natalia? Yeah, okay she was kind of evil, but she was just so…different. Not in a bad way, of course, but just in a unique kind of way.

Sitting in the back of the cab car, Clint thought about part of the plan he and Nataia had discussed.

_" Okay, so according to your tracker the coordinates are some sort of abandoned warehouse." Natalia muttered inspecting Clint's monitor._

_ Clint allowed a small chuckle to escape him._

_ Natalia glared at him._

_ " What?" He questioned, as he raised his hands in defense, " It's an abandoned warehouse!"_

_ Natalia blinked at him. _

_ He laughed_

_ " It's the classic villain cliche! An abandoned warehouse is home base, I swear if they have some sort of hostage situation going on there I may lose it."_

_ Natalia tucked a stray hair behind her ear, obviously trying to conceal a laugh._

_ " You're the worst." She muttered, still inspecting the device._

_ He smirked, " I know."_

_ " Are you two going to order anything?" Natalia was jolted out of her studying by a question from the waitress._

_ " Oh. Sure. I'll have a decaf, and a blueberry scone."_

_ Clint snorted._

_ " What?" Natalia asked annoyed._

_ " A scone? Really?" He asked chuckling._

_ Natalia shook her head, " And what are you getting, bird brain?"_

_ " I'll have a normal coffee, and a chocolate chip cookie."_

_ " You're joking." Natalia deadpanned._

_ Clint simply ignored her and handed the menus back to the waitress. The waitress rolled her eyes and mumbled something inaudible about ' annoying couples'._

_ " Okay, so because of the serum, I think our attack plan shoul—"_

Clint opened the door to his hotel room, and basically fell onto his bed. One thing people usually think about spies is that they're 'too good' for sleep. That's wrong. Spies need their beauty sleep, how else would they kick ass all the time? Now the scientists, that's who really liked pulling all nighters, god sometimes it seemed as if they had super ser—.

Clint jolted up off his bed, realizing something. Scientists. Serum. SUPER SERUM!Could the serum the man used be a variation of the super-serum they injected into Captain America?

He got out his secure line to S.H.I.E.L.D. He dialed Fury's number, and waited impatiently.

" Barton." Fury greeted.

" Director Fury, is there anyway that a variation of Captain America's super serum could possibly have been…modified."

Clint heard a loud sigh from the other side of the call.

" Barton, what does this have to do with killing the Back Widow?" Fury asked.

Clint's eyes widened. Out of everything he and Natalia had discussed, how had they not have came up with a cover story? Clint sighed and simply decided he would tell Fury the truth…well a variation of it anyway.

" I had eyes on Widow, and I was about to take the shot, but then this man showed up. They had weapons they had bought from the auction, the Black Widow wanted them to. She probably would've taken the weapons easily, but then the man shot some sort of…serum into his arm. It made him stronger…a lot stronger."

The line was silent for quite a while. Clint anxiously waiting for Fury's response, and Fury worrying something much worse may be going on.

" The super serum that turned Steve Rodgers into Captain America has never been replicated successfully…that doesn't mean there haven't been…attempts."

" Sir, what do you mean?"

" People have tried to recreate the serum, but while most of failed, some have partially succeeded. But instead of getting an enhanced soldier…they get a monster, or an abomination, or in quite a few cases they were able to make people strong for a short period of time…and then they would die."

Clint sat on the other side of the line, shocked.

" So are you saying—"

" That this could be a super soldier? Yeah Barton, that's exactly what I'm saying." Fury took a few seconds on the other side of the line to collect his thoughts before speaking, once more, " But Barton, your mission is not to take down some super soldiers, your mission is only to kill the Black Widow. Understood?"

" Understood." Clint replied. He knew he would have to kill her, he'd known that from the beginning. But now, hearing it said out loud just left a bad feeling in his stomach

" Good luck, Barton." Fury told Clint, before hanging up.

Clint sighed and set the phone down on his desk. If he followed Fury's orders than he could potentially be allowing super soldiers to get their hands on some of the deadliest weapons on the planet…if he didn't follow Fury's orders than he could stop them.

For Clint, this wasn't a hard choice at all. He was going to try to stop them, he did have a 'hero mindset', after all.

Clint's only dilemma was with the whole ' killing the Black Widow' thing. Of course, he knew he was going to have to kill her…but now it just seemed…harder.

Meanwhile across the globe…

" Sir?" Coulson asked, sitting directly across from Fury, listening to every word Fury and Barton spoke, " You know he's going to try and stop them, right? The soldiers."

" Of course I do, Coulson." Fury said staring down at the picture in his hand.

" Then shouldn't we send him some help, to take down the soldiers?" Coulson asked.

" O, we're sending in a team. Just not to help Barton take down the soldiers."Fury muttered gripping the photo tightly.

It was a blurry photo, but the subject was obvious, it was a picture of a brown-haired male, and a red haired female heading into a coffee shop.

And Fury may not have the best eyesight ever, but it wasn't hard to tell who the subjects of that photo were.

It was Hawkeye and the Black Widow.

Fury set the photo down in front of Coulson, who looked at it, shocked.

" Coulson, in two days we send a team in there. To kill the Black Widow…and anyone that gets in our way."


	7. Authors Note: So Sorry

**AN: So Sorry, but I will not be able to update for the next two weeks. I'm going on vacation! But sadly, it's a vacation with no wifi. **


	8. a pajzs halálát

**AN: Any words in Hungarian or any other language ( except english or mandarin ) I used google translate for. So if it's incorrect...blame google translate. ;) **

Natalia woke up the next morning knowing that today was going to be…different from her usual spy experience. Especially because she had been roped into helping someone she now had to kill. Or at least that's what she had been told last night.

_" Natalia, what have you learned about this…S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Does he possibly pose a threat to the extraction of the weapons?"_

_ " No, of course not. I simply made a deal with him. The weapons were stolen by some super-serum powered soldiers. They are extremely dangerous, and I need help. So, I tricked the S.H.I.E.L.D agent into helping me." Natalia knew she wasn't being entirely truthful. Hell, she was flat out lying about some parts. But even though she was a spy, a blackmailer, an assassin, and a murder, she repaid her debts. Always. And this man had saved her life, it was only fair she helped him._

_ Natalia heard a malicious chuckle from the other side of the line, " Very good, Natalia. S.H.I.E.L.D seems to have a habit of…showing up at the wrong times. I think it's only fair we return the favor."_

_ " Of course."_

_ " Good. Now, we expect the extraction in two days sharp. Be there on time."_

_ " And, what if I'm not?"_

_ The same chuckle reappeared. Malicious, yet somehow full of mirth, " Oh, Natalia. Trust me, you won't be late."_

_ " Yes. I won't."_

And then her professor hung up, and the phone simultaneously combusted in her hand. It didn't hurt anymore, she had gotten used to it. Now, the scorching red of her palm simply provided her comfort. It showed her that she was human, just like everyone else. That she could feel pain. She wasn't a robot.

There was flesh, blood, and veins, not wires, circuits, and metal. So even if she was a weapon of mass destruction, someone who could take down a village in a week, someone who probably had more kills on her record than most of the FBI combined, at least she could still smell her burning flesh.

But something about her being human actually unsettled her this time. What used to give her solace and strength, now only provided her with uncertainty. How had her entire operation been foiled by one man?

He just showed up, out of nowhere and threatened to kill her. Surprising, since he had originally saved her life. Then he made her a proposal, a deal, one that she usually would've passed up without question, she felt compelled to take.

It wasn't because the man could've killed her. She was better than everyone at hand to hand, no matter how good he was, Arrow guy was no different. But, instead of shooting him, she heard him out. And against her better judgment she was intrigued. So, she said yes. She agreed to this whole ordeal. But it left her with just one question.

The question wasn't about the men, or the weapons, or the serum, no it was about the man she spent the whole night talking to in a coffee shop. One this whole thing is over, if the destroy their operation, that is, what happens next? Does she fire a gun into his temple? Does he pierce her through the heart with an arrow? Or, do they both just walk away, preening this never happened?

Natalia shook her head, this may be her primary concern, but she couldn't let it consume her, she did have to fight some super villains, after all.

She sighed, put on a pair of gloves, and tried to ignore the piercing burns running through her fingertips. Reminding her, that like everyone else, she was human

" Hey, arrow guy." Natalia called out as she pulled up next to Clint.

He sighed, and pushed back his hair, " You really gonna keep calling me that?"

Natalia shrugged, " Maybe, it all depends."

" On what?"

" If we survive."

Clint shook his head and eld out an earpiece, " Here, put this in your ear."

Natalia cocked an eyebrow, much to the annoyance of Clint.

" No, it's not going to kill you. I do need your help, remember?"

Natalia took the earpiece with a smile, " I know, I just wanted to hear you say that you needed my help."

He shook his head, but Natalia saw the small smile forcing it's way onto his face.

" I'll head to the top of the building, you just find a way in."

In response, Natalia mock saluted. She watched as Clint climbed to the top of the building with surprising ease.

"_How often does he do that?" She thought to herself, " I mean sure he's pretty good at it, and he looks pretty good while—"_

" You ready?" Clint asked into his earpiece, disrupting Natalia's thoughts.

A cheery laugh filled his ears. " I'm always ready, _Hawkeye."_

_ " _Of course you are." Clint muttered, seeming to forget that just because he muttered doesn't mean an earpiece can't pick it up.

" I'm sorry?" Nat asked through the mikes, " But, did you, a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, seemingly forget he had an earpiece in his ear?"

" Of course not." Clint replied. But he had, he definitely had, " But seriously Nat, if you die then these guys don't get caught, so don't screw up."

" Wow, Clint, I'm so touched. You really do seem to care very deeply about my personal safety. If I didn't know better, I'd say you genuinely cared."

" Oh, please, like you need personal safety." Clint said as he rolled his eyes.

Natalia laughed, " True, I'd cream you in hand to hand."

Clint scoffed, " Please, you've never even seen me fight hand to hand."

" I know."

Clint shook his head, turning her attention back to the building she was about to infiltrate, " Still, there's a lot of real bad people in there."

Natalia laughed, " Trust me…I'll be the worst. And at least we don't have to go into that crappy warehouse yet."

_" That's insane. Honestly I can't believe that anyone could ever think that." Clint stated astounded. The waitress had just served them their food, or in Clint's case: their cookie._

_ " Yeah, because your point was oh so convincing, arrow guy."_

_ " It didn't have to be convincing! I'm obviously correct."_

_ " Just keep telling yourself that, arrow guy."_

_ " Whatever, but just to set the record straight no one should pay 100 dollars for a haircut, that's insane."_

_ " Welcome to being a woman. But back to the point, from what I've figured out, the tracked man recently headed to a hotel—"_

_ " You mean, you read the monitor of a tracker I placed, to find out that the man recently headed to a hotel."_

_ Natalia tilted her head, " What is it with men and their idiotic pride complexes?"_

_ Clint spread his hands out in a shrug, " I guess it's just our nature."_

_ Natalia glared at him, " Well, stop. It's irritating and distracting."_

_ " I think that's kind of the point." Clint said with a wink._

_ She rolled her eyes, and turned back to the monitor, " It shows him heading to the…a pajzs halálát."_

_ Her brows furrowed as she stared at the words. To her, something wasn't quite adding up._

_ " Natalia," Clint asked grasping her attention away from her own thoughts, "What's so special about that name?"_

_ She looked up at him, confusion marring her usually certain features, " It's Hungarian. The name of the hotel roughly translates to 'the death of the shield'."_

" I still think this is a bad idea." Clint commented into the mic, " These people are super soldiers. Probably some of the most efficient and dangerous people on the planet even before their…enhancement. What makes you think they'll even let you through the front door?"

Natalia sighed into the mic, " You underestimate the idiocy of men. See you soon."

Natalia smirked as she turned off the mic in her ear. It would still record whatever information she heard, but it just stopped the influx of ' annoying things Clint has to say' which is actually becoming a very long list.

Still, she stumbled into the hotel lobby. Much to the shock of 5 men sitting in the lobby.

" Oh!" She giggled, " Is this not the ladies room?"


End file.
